"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation.

Thursday, April 28, 2016

This post is going to be added to the sidebar of the blog. I am going to compile the studies I have on the feasts of the LORD that are outlined in Leviticus 23. Much of my walk as a believer I dismissed the feasts as the Jews feasts and therefore not something I needed to know too much about.

Then I began to study the Bible in earnest. Below are some of the posts I have put together so far on my findings. I am NOT anything more than someone that believes that the whole Bible should be studied and used. Man changed the word of Our Creator and established mans version of holidays. I am simply sharing what the Bible reveals in a manner that helped me to unlearn what I had been taught, and relearn the Bible.

I have many charts, scripture cards and such and will be adding them. Below are a list and links to the posts I have written.

Something to Think About -The date Easter is was established by Man not God. Leviticus 23 and a brief explanation of the feasts.

Defining Words- For ever and Remember defined and has Leviticus 23 and the feasts with this. Here is a quote from that post

We are to walk as Jesus walked. None
of this what would Jesus do nonsense, rather it should be what DID
Jesus do...as His example is how we are to live. He kept the feasts of
the LORD, yet pretty much only the Jews keep the feasts today. I
recognize that some are beginning to awaken to this realization that if
one is a follower of Jesus, one need to walk as he did.

In the New Testament we read that the holy days as well as the Sabbath
are important because they are a shadow of things to come.

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days:Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. Colossians 2:16-17

As a Christian of things to come
would most importantly be the Second Coming of Christ, and so I find
learning about the holy days is a dress rehearsal of things to come.

Feast of Trumpets- a simple post sharing the farm family participating in this feast. Here is a quote from this post.

We live with the knowledge
of Hope and Faith in Him. We celebrate in the feasts not by bonds but
by looking for what is coming~and if you have read the Bible~you know it
is Christ that is coming once again.

About the Past Several Days-Part 4- This was the introduction that I gave at the four part presentation on the feasts of the Bible. It was several questions that I asked those in attendance. Here is a quote from this post.

I
appreciate that many people look at my post and dismiss me, and suggest
I am a fanatic, or converting to Judaism. I am not converting to
Judaism, and I am only doing what my God tells me to do in

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15

Have You Ever Played Cricket? This is a post that shares how the Christian holidays are similar to God's Holydays and use similar wording just enough to confuse. It is a post where I began to realize that I was learning so much that it was time to begin posting here about my studies. Here is a quote from this post.

It is the LORD's Passover. Oh and it should be kept for ever as a memorial.And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a
feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast
by an ordinance for ever. Exodus 12: 14

For ever. And it is not only for the Jews but for all those that are of the house of Israel...

Matthew 15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Who is Israel?All those that call upon the name of the Lord then are grafted in.

Romans 11 God established holy days to be kept for ever. When
they are celebrated year after year they are prophetic as Colossians
tells us.

What was nailed to the cross? The judgments against us~ not the law.
Only what we have done in breaking it...just the same as if we get a
speeding ticket and someone walks in to the court and pays for the
ticket...the speeds are no longer removed, just my infraction against
complying with the speed.

How can we say we walk like our Savior but ignore how he kept the
Sabbath. In fact, he kept the law perfectly as our example. In 1 John
5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments; and his
commandments are not grievous.

I will be adding to this and keeping it up to date, as Shavuot (Pentecost), Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles need to be added in my detailed study of the feast.

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

The dating relationship between a husband and a wife does not end once the vows are said. It is important to kindle the relationship in every walk of the marriage. Bill and I are now grands~as in grandparents. That is so crazy to type as it seems like yesterday when we brought home First! As parents of adult children we are still very much working to keep our marriage as strong as it has ever been.

I strongly believe married couples should date each other long into the marriage, and Bill and I have and will continue to do so until well, I don't want to think about the until.

We went on a date the other day to a place near but so very different than the farm. We went up to the mountains east of the farm.

The drive was amazing. I cannot say that enough and if you were to ask Bill, he would tell you I kept saying how lovely and wonderful the drive was.

It is green up in the mountains and the trees are ever so tall.

There was even traces of snow still on the mountain here and there.

We went to a familiar place. I love it for the vast amount of rocks~

and the peacefulness. This tree had rocks in its roots.

We set up for a picnic and them I wandered off a bit careful to

keep an eye out for critters. I know Bill watched as well.

We took a simple picnic lunch of beans and Hebrew National hotdogs.

We had chips and coke as well. This date was impromptu yet easy to

put together. I grabbed the items needed to cook, Bill grabbed the grill

and the cooler for the food and water.

I wore my old but favorite tenny benny shoes...

and Bill wore his favorite work boots.

I love how the world feels when we date.

I love how a simple getaway kindles our love.

I smiled as I looked at the shadows of the tree and was inspired

because I thought of the family tree that Bill and I have grown.

The branches are filling up!

I wandered about while Bill was content to sit and soak in the sun.

Then I hit a bit of Jen heaven...ROCKS. The date

exceeded any expectations as the rocks in this area are loaded

down with fossils!

I must close with how important it is when dating your spouse, you should know your spouse. A trip in the wilderness may not be the ideal date for your love. If finances hold back a trip somewhere you can still create a trip at home. Make a fancy meal(after the kids are in bed-if you have wee ones). Dress up and dance in your dining room. Sit in the back yard under the stars and speak about your dreams~and I promise you that at every age you continue to have dreams. The date Bill took me on was a date for me by a man that knows me ever so well. He knows that I prefer the wilderness to the city. He knows I prefer a picnic instead of fine dining and that if I want to see the *sights* that I want to see the sights made by our Creator.

Friday, April 22, 2016

The western world (for the most part) celebrates Easter. The feasts outlined in Leviticus 23 of the Bible are dismissed as being feasts for the Jews and not for Christians. Until about ten or so years ago I had never thought much of the feasts aside from thinking that is an Old Testament thing. I have been on a quest for the past several years and this simple poster board presentation is a window to the feasts of Leviticus 23 and how they are not feasts of the Jews, but feasts of the LORD and how important they are to Christians today.

This presentation is very introductory and should be considered as such.

I will begin with the combination of the poster boards. Here are the first three feasts of the Bible from Leviticus 23 and Easter. I put them together as a comparison.

Here is the Passover board. I used the simple technique of the five w's and h to explain it. You can read each verse for yourself as EVERYTHING in red is found in the Bible. This is for the children of Israel and I will explain who they are near the end. The HOW is key for a Christian as the feast of Passover 2000ish years ago when Christ was put on the Cross as the Unblemished lamb was on the exact day that God told His people to keep His feast. When John calls Jesus the Unblemished Lamb he is not pulling this out from nowhere. Jesus literally became our Passover Lamb on Passover.

Those that recognized Jesus when he entered Jerusalem actually put their palm fronds down for Him as they saw Him as the fulfillment. (John 12:13)

So the first feast in Leviticus 23 is in memory of the Blood of an unblemished lamb covering the door frames of the tribes in Egypt. Christ fulfilled this 2000ish years ago and His Blood covers us.

The second feast is on the day following Passover and is a feast where NO LEAVEN is eaten. This is

in memory of not having time for the bread to rise when the tribes fled Egypt. Once again this is the LORD's feast. Leaven is equated with sin in the Bible. Having no leaven is one that is sinless.

Christ literally fulfilled this feast as being the one with no sin being put in the grave this day.

The second feast was literally fulfilled for us by Jesus Christ. This is a seven day feast.

Firstfruits is the third feast in Leviticus 23. This feast is not given a date but is assigned to be on the day following the weekly Sabbath whenever that falls. It is a memorial of the firstfruits of the harvest. Christ rose on Firstfruits. He is called the Firstfruits by Paul in the New Testament and this is no coincidence. The feast of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits are nine days of holy convocations that are to be kept forever. They are NOT for the Jew but feasts that are the LORD's. The first four were literally fulfilled by Jesus Christ first coming. And...around 300 years after His being the Passover Lamb, without sin, to be the Firstfruits of the Harvest...

MAN

CHANGED

THE CELEBRATION

-from

Holydays to one holiday.

Below is the board with Easter on it. As you enlarge this by clicking on it, keep in mind that if it is not in red it is not found in the Bible.

Passover was changed to Easter by those that perhaps were with good intentions. They did not wish to celebrate the resurrection of their Lord with those that had him put on the cross. Well that is what they meant when they said they did not wish to Judaize. I am sitting here posting to you, the reader and wish to tell you something I know about my God, the God of the Universe, the I AM~He knew His plan. It is clear in Genesis forward.He knew His Son must die. He set the day up BEFORE-in fact, many years before the death would occur. So those that wished to change the date to not worship

with those that *killed* Christ were wrong. The Easter date is calculated using the Spring Equinox.

It is only 1 day. It crunches the death, burial, and resurrection into a Sunday with perhaps church at sunrise, and then Sunday dinner with great odds of ham being served. Oh and the name? It is not a name that a jealous God would like to be used for something claiming to be of Him.

Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, Exodus 20:5

The name Easter comes from pagans.3I left HOW blank as Jesus Christ did not fulfill Easter.

His Holy days were put in the Bible for a reason and although we can attempt to suggest that Easter is about Christ it is not. It was a day established by those that were not in His word.They did not understand that the feasts were a foreshadowing of His first coming and GUESS WHAT?

If the spring feast were a foreshadowing of His First Coming, then the remaining feasts(the fall) feasts should be a shadow of His Second Coming~oh and they are. I will explain after the next photo.

How are these feasts for the Christian today?

Even on the poster boards I have that they are for the Children of Israel.

Well if you accept Christ as your Saviour you are grafted into Israel and therefore the Feasts in Leviticus 23 are for you!!

The final three feasts are Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles. I will be sharing about them and how one can know His plan by keeping the holydays God established for us

When I share this post I wish to express that this information may seem overwhelming or even as if I am trying to disprove things that most of us grew up with in our homes as beloved traditions that we knew.I am not sharing this post to call out anyone or suggest that you aren't sincere if you haven't celebrated His feasts and have celebrated Easter. I am only sharing that I feel pressed to present this in as many places as possible for those that are being called. The times are different and we need to wake up.

If you have any questions or wish to share with me, please feel free to comment. I am not suggesting that grace is done away with BUT I will share with you that

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. Colossians 2;16-17

What Paul is telling people to not let others judge them about are of God's holydays...not mans holidays. Of the new moon as a keeping of the months as well as in what is eaten of the sabbath. These are God's words and pertain to the way He established that we are to keep them. These verses are NOT suggesting that we can do Godly things our ways. Instead it is saying when you begin to do Godly things His ways, don't allow others judge you.

And a sidenote about Easter...read Deuteronomy 12:30-32 1 Tetragrammaton. Wikipedia. Web. April 22, 2016. {This web link has numerous links at the bottom of its article that can allow you to study this even more.}2. Leviticus 23:14, 21, 31, 413 Taylor, Paul. S. Where did" Easter" get its name? Where did the concept of an Easter Egg and Bunny Originate? ChristianAnswers.net. Web. April 22, 2016 4 Blue Letter Bible is a great source on line with Strong's Concordance and other Bible versions blueletterbible.org

Thursday, April 21, 2016

This is my second attempt at making them. I am certain I have a long way to go in perfecting them but to me, they are delicious!

I made them with cabbage, green onions, and carrots. I confess that the dipping sauce I used is from Panda Express, that I received when I bought some vegetable rolls Monday. I also bought the Sweet and Sour Panda Express sauce from the grocery store as it is delicious!

In 325CE the Council of Nicaea established that Easter would be held
on the first Sunday after the first full moon occurring on or after the vernal equinox.(*) From that point forward, the Easter date depended on the ecclesiastical approximation of March 21 for the vernal equinox.
Easter
is delayed by 1 week if the full moon is on Sunday, which decreases the
chances of it falling on the same day as the Jewish Passover. The
council’s ruling is contrary to the Quartodecimans, a group of
Christians who celebrated Easter on the day of the full moon, 14 days
into the month.1

What is interesting to think about is that God established dates that we are to celebrate fully knowing that Jesus Christ was to be the fulfillment of those days(holydays or Feasts).

Did you ever wonder why Jesus Christ was called the Lamb of God?

Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. John 1:29

Or why he was compared to a lamb without blemish or spot?

But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot 1 Peter 1:19

These weren't coincidences. Jesus Christ was our Passover Lamb just like from the story in Exodus. He was the fulfillment of this and was put on the Cross on Passover.

Did you ever wonder why leaven is equated with sin in the Bible, and unleaven is where one removes the sin? Well on the feast of Unleavened Bread Jesus Christ died taking the sins of the world upon him.

For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made righteous of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21

On the feast when leaven is removed from the home, Our Savior Jesus Christ removed the sins of the world. This means that when one receives Him, our sin is covered and He is what God sees. The debt was paid all that needs to be done is calling upon Him.

Did you ever wonder why Jesus Christ was also called the Firstfruit?

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the Firstfruits of them that slept. 1 Corinthians 15:20

Jesus Christ was put on the cross on the Feast of Passover, was put in the tomb on the Feast of Unleavened Bread and rose on the Feast of Firstfruits. This is easy to document using not only the Bible but secular historical documents as well. Why do you think that God made these events happen on the dates that in Leviticus 23, we are told should be kept forever as a memorial?
Because the feasts were a foreshadowing of Christ's first coming.

The feasts(or holydays) outlined in Leviticus 23 are not the Jews feasts.

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts. Leviticus 23:2

The feasts outlined in Leviticus 23 are the LORD's feasts.

If Jesus Christ literally fulfilled the first four feasts2 on the date that God established don't you think that when He comes again that the remaining three feasts might be significant for us to study?

The final three feasts are Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles.
Think about this for a moment:
Those familiar with the events about the Second Coming need to think about the words in Bold.

The feast of trumpets:

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with thetrumpof God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 1 Thessalonians 4:16
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 1 Corinthians 15:52

The feast of Atonement:

Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; Philippians 2:9-10*atonement means in the Strongs-H3722 to cover, to purge, to reconcile, (repent from sin) so every knee bowing is a way to do this as when we pray we are on our knees asking for forgiveness from sins as well as other things.

The feast of Tabernacles:
Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. Revelation 21:3

If the first four feasts were fulfilled on the dates God said, and the remaining feasts line up with scriptures He uses about His second coming, don't you think that you should study them?

Back to the setting of the date for Easter...man sets the date. God told us that we should celebrate this date(in three feasts) and gives a specific date for them. Leviticus 23 tells us that Passover is to be celebrated in the first month on the 14th day of the month, and Unleavened Bread in the same month on the 15th day of the month and Firstfruits on the morrow after the sabbath.

God's first month does not line up with man's. In fact, the first month in God's calendar lines up usually between March and April.

Passover this year is tomorrow the 22nd of April. Easter this year was March 27.

God says one thing, man another and who do we follow?

Those that were obedient to God in the first century and keeping the feasts dropped their palm leaves when they saw Christ:

Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. John 18:22

I think it is time to wake up and

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15

1 How the Easter Date is Determined. Timeanddate.com. Web. April 21, 20162 Pentecost in Greek or Shavuout in Hebrew is the fourth feast in Lev 23 (some even call it the feasts of Weeks) it was fulfilled and you can read about this event taking place exactly when God said it would in Acts 2.

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

many hands our farmhouse now has an almost finished brand new front porch! Here are a few photos of the work in progress. I do have more but these photos are from the past four weeks~which really were amazing.

Yes, it is a somewhat strange title for this blogger, but it is sincere. You see, I did learn a good deal from Hillary Clinton. I recall the presidential campaign of 1992. It wasn't the first of my adult life, but it was the one that left a lasting impression. You see, I grew up during the 1970's and 1980's where women were repeatedly told that they could do anything and didn't need a man. My mother pushed so hard for all the girls to not only get an education, but to become something in the working world.

I had been married a bit over four years when Bill Clinton was elected president. I was in a struggle with myself, whether I was lost and nothing because I was a stay home wife and then mother of two. Almost daily, I would think about what I should be doing if I wasn't at home. I felt like I was a slacker because I wasn't bringing any income into the family. I was asked often what did I do~in reference to a job, and I would softly and almost ashamedly answer, "I stay home with the children."

Then Hillary Clinton began to support her husband's campaign and was quoted as saying:

I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what I decided to do was fulfill my profession. March 26, 1992 ABC Nightline 1

When I heard that sound blurb over and over I felt an awakening. You see, two things happened. The anger from those that stayed at home was crazy, but many supported Hillary's comments. For me, I had clarity. In a flippant remark Hillary made me realize that if women, mocked the importance or value of a stay home wife and mother, times were sad. I mean, I understand that many women must work, but if one is staying home, the job she is doing is incredible. A mother can influence the next generation and create loving, caring, respectful, functioning members of society.

I took the time to really think about my role. I took the time to see it as an opportunity and a blessing. One that many women aren't fortunate enough to be able to do. Hillary Clinton's offhanded comment made me evaluate the incredible gift I was given to be a mother, and then one that could stay home with her children.

Another comment Hillary Clinton made during the presidential campaign of her husband was:

You know, I'm not sitting her here-some little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynette. I 'm sitting here because I love him, and respect him, and I honor what he's been through and what we've been together. 1992 60 Minutes 2

I did not listen to Tammy Wynette's music, but this statement came off pretty callous. The song is about loving your man in the good times, the bad times and showing the world how you feel. It is a seemingly typical country song. I love my Bill. I thought of Hillary Clinton mocking a woman that stood by her man yet, Hillary stood by a man that is an alleged sex offender.3 I thought Hillary's comment was very sarcastic. I value marriage and if this means that at times my husband and his imperfect ways are forgiven by me, then I am the better person. You see, my husband forgives my imperfect ways as well. I truly do stand by my husband.

In Hillary's concession speech in 2008 she said:

Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it and the light is shining though like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time. 2008 Concession Speech.4

Hillary Clinton has taught me a lot during her years in public service. She is a woman that is and has been in many powerful positions that still suggests that women are fighting that glass ceiling. I wonder about this all the time. She has been an attorney, the First Lady, Secretary of State, US senator, presidential candidate, and now once again presidential candidate. How can the glass ceiling still be there? What I have learned from this, is that Hillary will never value being a woman, and will see life in what men have and no matter what women accomplish that they will never be good enough. I challenge this. I have a very small public pedigree. I am not known by very many people. I have been a housewife for over half of my life and stayed home and raised my children, and I value being a woman.

I am a woman. I am not the same as man, and a man is not the same as me. Yet, as a woman I am quite compatible to a man, and this man is quite compatible to me. We compliment each other. Yes, my Bill compliments me, and I him. We divided the goals we had and each of us work towards accomplishing those goals. I do not think in terms of glass ceilings~EVER. I appreciate Hillary Clinton because I made note of her attitude towards men and women and that I have lived the opposite way. I did not do this in a hateful way, but in a way that her actions clarified my role as a woman.

I look at the times I heard the above quotes from Hillary Clinton and I am thankful. I appreciate that I was able to really think about my role and although Hillary Clinton was not the reason I stayed home, she did make me really appreciate the great blessing that I had been granted.

My post will close with a sincere thanks that I have been able to be at home, and be the one that was blessed enough to raise my children.

About Me

I have been married to my best friend for nearly 29 years and we live on a small farm in the middle of the desert.
We have four children (now adults) three daughters-in-law, two grandsons and look forward to many more added to the fold.